A three-year-old child was reportedly among several people injured when police fired rubber bullets at a crowd protesting their eviction from a block of flats in Hillbrow on Friday.
Although unable to confirm the injuries, Constable Mbuzi Zondo said the crowd started throwing bottles at the police shortly after 7am on Friday morning when a court official delivered an interdict calling off their eviction from the flats on the corner of Twist and Quartz streets.
”The police shot rubber bullets and the situation calmed down,” Zondo said.
Police had raided the building at 4am, confiscating two guns, stolen property and cash and arresting 180 illegal immigrants, he said.
The Democratic Alliance condemned the eviction.
Councillor Ann Barnes said the African National Congress ”wilfully blinded themselves to the growing number of immigrants and low-income residents that are flocking to Hillbrow”.
She said that while police have a responsibility to clean the streets of illegal immigrants, a social housing policy that is sensitive to the needs of those evictees, but that allows police to act against illegal immigrants, needs to be implemented.
”You can’t blame the cops for doing their jobs, but at the same time you cannot blame residents for trying to hang on to the only homes they have at present,” said Barnes. — Sapa